All lives can't matter until black ones do. This week (and the weeks that come) are not "business as usual" at America On Tech (AOT). In full transparency, it has taken us a few days to write this post because the words to describe the way we feel at the moment are not easy to articulate. We have been attending virtual and community gatherings as part of our own grieving process.

What has happened to George Floyd, Christian Cooper, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and countless other black people are true depictions of violent acts against black people in our country. This is not new and should not be treated or acknowledged as such.

Our founders were in elementary school when the murder of Amadou Diallo happened. They were in high school when the killing of Sean Bell happened. When Eric Garner was murdered they were working in the private sector and conversations were (and continue to be) minimal around the hurt black people feel in response to these recurring events.

The black bodies we are seeing killed behind our computers, phones and in-person can at any point in time be the students, families, members of the community we are trying to serve, as well as AOT teammates.

Nothing that has transpired is OK. If you don't feel normal, that is OK. If you don’t have the words to express how you feel, that is OK. … but taking action is REQUIRED.

AOT is not neutral on this matter and stands against racial injustice. AOT stands for freedom, justice, liberation and an equal opportunity at life. There is nothing un-American about that.

Our students, every day, are fighting against systems that oppress them. They do not have the privilege to choose whether or not to engage with how racial injustice is woven into the fabric of America. It is the dark, devastating reality that they look in the eye every single day. Their innocence gets stripped away before they even have the opportunity to dream of what they can be. The images of dead black bodies without justice sends them the message that no matter what they do or how hard they work, they are not safe or seen as equal.

We cannot expect to create pathways into the technology and innovation sector without acknowledging the very injustices that our students and communities face on a daily basis. We stand against racial injustice because we know that in order for us to create an equitable technology industry, we need to ensure the safety of our students' minds, bodies and spirits.

America On Tech is committed as an organization to ensuring that we are consistently assessing and addressing systems that affect our students, our communities and our team members. We are acknowledging that this is a consistent point of growth and we will not stop until we get it right.

This spring, students in America On Tech’s TECH360 program learned the fundamentals of web design and development from volunteer instructors and software engineers working at technology companies based in NYC. Over the course of 10 weeks, students learned the basics of HTML and CSS, developed their professional skill sets, and explored industry aligned coding tools. For the final project, students were placed in teams of 2-4 and provided a mock small business client brief, along with mini lessons about being a technology consultant and pitching/presenting an idea or project. Students developed a website according to their mock small business client brief and each cohort had its own competition to determine a winner. Today we are featuring those winners in our blog!

It’s safe to say that AOT’s programs were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic this semester. In March, all of our in-person classes were shifted to virtual sessions via Zoom. This included our TECH360 program sessions. All of our materials were already hosted online and we expanded our use of the digital space by recording all live technical instructional sessions and posting them online for our students to access. Additionally, virtual office hours were added to the program to support students as they worked through their individual and team-based projects. Despite this shift, our students rose to the challenge and we couldn’t be more proud of their commitment and dedication to learning.

​See the summaries of the winning student groups below. For more information on any of these projects, or to learn more about our programs, contact hello@americaontech.org.

​Congratulations to our student, Alexis Loveraz, was recently featured on CBS New York for his work as a TikTok Math Tutor. Alexis has accumulated a following of more than 600K followers and 5.1 milion likes on TikTok.

​"After friends encouraged him to post tips on algebra, geometry and chemistry on the video-sharing platform, he’s become a go-to source for students stuck in their homes, remote learning." (CBS NewYork)

Alexis is a junior at Harlem Prep High School. He is a recent graduate of our Tech Flex Leaders Program. He is a star student who has made meaningful contributions both in and out of the classroom. We want to send him a big congratulations!

A few weeks ago we released some information to you all about our transition to working in a remote learning environment. Since then, we’ve been developing more resources to keep our students engaged in robust technology career development and exposure. Today we are proud to announce the launch of America On Tech's #AOTLive series - a free Instagram Live chat series featuring technology founders and professionals who will provide insight into trending technology topics.

The first four chat sessions are set to launch on Tuesday, May 5, 2020 at 4 p.m. EST via our Instagram account. ​Our May schedule is as follows:

The instagram chat series is open to our students and anyone who chimes into the discussion via our Instagram account on these dates and times. Make sure to follow us to tune in. Promotional flyers for the sessions can be found below. Feel free to save and share them!

On Tuesday, April 7, 2020 we learned about the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development’s (DYCD) decision around canceling its 2020 Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP), as well as its Ladders for Leaders program. The news devastated our organization and its supporters, as we could not fathom the effect this would have on the young people of New York City who gain access to critical employment opportunities through this resource.

Since 2014, America On Tech (AOT) has had the distinct pleasure of bringing tuition free technology courses to the young people of New York and Los Angeles. These courses provide critical and in-demand technology skills and professional development sessions to 16-24 year old students of color, who are from low to moderate income communities. Not only do our students obtain high quality technology training, they also have opportunities to apply for our paid summer internship program, jobs in our employer partner network and receive exclusive opportunities as part of our alumni engagement portfolio. AOT students are amazing, talented and represent the future of innovation in our country and we cannot express how thankful we are to work with them everyday.

COVID-19 has had a disproportionate effect on our students and the communities they represent. Particularly in New York City and Los Angeles, the number of COVID-19 cases has been massive in comparison to other cities. Many of our students and their families have experienced high levels of economic stress during this time due to reduced hours and lost wages. Further, rates of infection are higher for low income communities, where there are a higher percentage of people of color: our students' communities.

To add to the challenges our students already face due to racial, gender and economic disparities, technology internships for summer 2020 are being canceled by many companies at a rapid rate. This leaves our trained, young people with newly minted skills and nowhere to exercise them during a time where they could be generating income to sustain themselves, their families and, sometimes, their larger community of support.

The cancellation of internship programs should not be the answer to a company’s COVID-19 plans. It should be an opportunity for companies to think innovatively about the future of talent and work. AOT stands with 21 organizations in our “Open Letter to Employers on Summer 2020 Internship Commitments Amidst the Covid-19 Crisis”. There are a number of recommendations we're making to companies and organizations who are canceling internships this summer.

Internships across the board are a critical component in the development of a student’s career trajectory. They not only gain important skills that prepare them for the workforce, but also help them gain an insight into what company culture looks like, helps them exercise their soft skills, enables them to build social capital and helps put money in their pockets.

Internships are not only beneficial to students. They are also beneficial to employers. Internships help companies cultivate their talent pipelines and fulfill their human resources goals. Internships also allow companies to build brand equity among earlier talent pools and give them the chance to become employers of choice. Internships help further a company’s corporate citizenship and diversity, equity and inclusion agendas and if structured correctly, give early employees an opportunity to gain managerial skills by managing interns on their projects.

We have curated a list of three considerations for companies who have canceled their internship programs or are on the verge of doing so:

Provide virtual internship opportunities: COVID-19 has shown us that there might be an opportunity for us to engage in a distributed workforce. Rather than canceling internship programs, consider moving internships into a virtual environment. Since the start of COVID-19, many companies have moved to a virtual environment, similar to our programs at AOT. This means that our students are able to adapt to a changing world, just like companies are, and the possibility of remote internships could be a viable option during this time.

Provide project-based work or contractual work: Instead of canceling internship programs altogether, consider opportunities for your company to bring students on as freelancers or contractors. There could be a number of isolated projects that our students can work on at your company / organization that requires less managerial oversight, but provides tremendous value in achieving your objectives.

Shortening your internship program: Consider limiting the scope of the internship program this summer so that students can still engage in the critical components of the experience. Many internship programs run 8-10 weeks. You should explore the possibility of a 4 to 6 week experience at minimum for at least 25 hours per week.

We want to acknowledge that we are all feeling the effects of a very unanticipated global pandemic and the amount of disruption we have all faced in the last couple of weeks has shifted each of us into a new normal. However, as an organization working to create a diversified technology talent pipeline, we would be remiss if we did not express our concerns about how canceling internship programs in summer 2020 leaves our young people behind when there are already significant barriers to employment and equitable access to meaningful work experiences.

We’re still recruiting 2020 summer internship partners at AOT until May 15, 2020. Student wages for companies in our program might have the opportunity to be subsidized.

You can learn more about our program here. You can also contact Kylie Repasy (kylie@americaontech.org) and Deeksha Sharma (deeksha@americaontech.org) for more information. To learn more about our open letter to employers, contact Ruthe Farmer (ruthe@csforall.org).

​On February 27, 2020, America On Tech (AOT)partnered with NBCUniversal to host a Technology Career Day for STEM Prep Schools and Alliance Marine - Innovation & Technology students. This career day focused on giving the students an insight on technology careers at NBCUniversal. Additionally, the students heard directly from a panel of NBCUniversal technology volunteers, engaged in a speed networking session and participated in the world famous NBCU Studio Tour.

​The career day kicked off with a welcome and introduction of NBCUniversal. During this time, students were given an informational history of NBCUniversal, had the opportunity to compete for small prizes and answered questions about popular NBC shows and upcoming film releases. ​

​Afterwards, the students then had a chance to hear from five NBCUniversal panelists, which was moderated by Arlene Perez, a Software Developer at NBC Digital. The panelists included: Debbie Fiorella, Joseph Kaufman, Ronda Haralson, Tammy Jordan and Alicia Tolbert.

​After the panel discussion, students were broken up into groups of three for a 45 minute speed networking session. Each group of students was paired with one or two NBCUniversal employee(s) to learn about their background, career paths, and what they do today. Students also had the chance to tell the employee(s) about themselves. Each session lasted roughly ten minutes, as employee(s) rotated between student tables.

​To end the career day, both schools and AOT staff were given a tour of the NBCUniversal lot. Students were excited to physically be on a production set, take pictures in the prop department and see the popular fictional town, Whoville, from The Grinch.

​It was beyond spectacular and an eye opener for students to see and take part in something far beyond their classroom experience. Thank you again to NBCUniversal for welcoming AOT and making this career day not only instructive, but unforgettable!​

Click the image above to see AOT student, Alvin King, presenting a draft of his class project via Zoom. He is currently developing a website that will help a fictional teacher named Carmen generate random advice using the Advice API.

​At America On Tech (AOT), the safety of our students, families, volunteers and community of supporters are our top priority. As a response to COVID-19, we issued a newsletter two weeks ago sharing our organization's anticipated plan of action to ensure the continuity of our work under the global pandemic. Here is an update about what's going on at AOT:

COMMITMENT TO PROGRAMS:

Implementation of a virtual learning model: Our programs have or will be migrated to a virtual learning environment via zoom. Each of our classes have a plan of action specifically crafted for the environments and regions they are operating in. We're recording each of the class sessions and posting them up on their respective Google Classrooms, which we already hosted our curriculum and content on prior to COVID-19.

Hosting weekly virtual office hours: Our team will be implementing virtual office hours for students who might need additional support outside of the regularly scheduled live instructional sessions they participate in.

Consistent parent / guardian communication: We are ensuring that we are keeping lines of communication with our students' families open during this time by upating them on important program information via email. In the coming weeks, we will also be hosting a virtual parent session.

Gathering data on student needs: We have implemented a survey tool to get a grasp on the hurdles our students might be experiencing in accessing our classes. This will enable us to get an understanding of their wifi and computer equipment needs so we can try and course correct and supplement their materials as much as we can.

Corporate partner events are going virtual or being re-scheduled: To continue to engage students in meaningful technology opportunities, we're working with our corporate partners to think about what virtual career days, panel discussions and fireside chats can look like in the coming weeks / months.

COMMITMENT TO INTERNAL OPERATIONS:

Monitoring COVID-19: Our leadership will continue to monitor the situation daily and communicate with all parties any changes on a regular basis. All major decisions will be emailed or texted as they evolve.

Staff and employees: All staff members are being asked to work remotely until further notice. Staff members have been given guidelines and best practices for working from home.

COMMITMENT TO EQUITY​We know that the above action steps are temporary fixes to a larger discussion about equitable practices during this time. As we continue to monitor the situation, we will be consistently evaluating how to ensure we are adhering to our organizational values of growth mindset, respect, community and impact to ensure our students, staff, volunteers, partners and larger community are being serviced in alignment with our vision of a diverse, equitable and inclusive technology industry. We also stand with the communities that are most affected by COVID-19 during this time, as many of students, families and community of supporters belong to these communities and are disproportionately affected by the pandemic.

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

We look forward to re-opening our program sites and continuing our work. We are wishing each of you a safe and healthy few weeks ahead.

America On Tech (AOT) coordinates career days for its students at leading companies and organizations to provide students with the necessary industry exposure they need to be successful in degrees and careers in technology. AOT partnered with Capital One to host a technology and finance career day for Computer Science Education Week.

AOT’s Tech Flex students visited Capital One, an American bank holding company specializing in credit cards, auto loans, banking, and savings accounts, which engaged them in an exciting out of school activity with technology professionals. To kick off the day, students were given a history of computer science, learning about Ada Lovelace, the first computer programmer as well as the development of platforms like Facebook and Youtube. They were also given an overview of career pathways in computer science, which helped demystify the opportunities they can pursue outside of software engineering with a computer science pathway. ​​

Following the history of computer science and overview of computer science careers, the students were able to participate in a panel discussion with Capital One employees who work in different fields of technology. Panelists included Tajee, Barbie and Daniel. The panelists provided insight about their various roles and general insight about the current and future state of technology. This discussion reinforced exposure to the importance of computer science and careers in technology.

“These kids were amazing to work with. Their willingness to learn and competitive spirit to be the best is unmatched. The future is so bright for these leaders," said Tajee.

Furthermore, the students were able to gain knowledge in financial education by participating in financial jeopardy with Capital One. As a result of this financial education activity, students were able to increase their knowledge on a variety of financial topics, including budgeting, managing credit cards and building credit.

Thank you again to Capital One for welcoming AOT and making this career day not only informative but memorable!

TECH360 is a 10-week training program for 10th and 11th graders enrolled in high school. Students enrolled in the program learn the fundamentals of web design and development from AOT instructors and software engineers working at technology companies. Courses take place within companies and are taught by tech professionals.

The TECH360 program has reached more than 500 students since 2016. There are many benefits to students participating in the TECH360 program. These benefits include: